Inuit Culture

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Transcript of Inuit Culture

Inuit culture BY Zifi, Brandon and Jackie Introduction Inuit clothes Inuit people also called Eskimos, live in the Arctic and Northern parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland and Alaska. The weather is always cold so they wear very thick fury clothes. - Clothing of the Inuit people was mostly made out of animal skins and furs. -They usually wore many layers of clothing as protection from the cold weather. -Caribou skin was the most common choice for clothing, because it provided good insulation and -They were thick coats with hoods called Parkas and the hood was fringed with fur. -The Inuit people also made clothing from other animal skins, including dog, squirrel, marmot, fox, wolf, polar bear, bird skin, feathers, and sealskin. -They sometimes used sea mammal intestines instead of hides, because they provided more resistance to water. -Women wore special large-hooded parkas called 'Amautis'. -The large hood was used to carry babies and young children. Children's clothing was made of soft skin of younger animals. -For the first couple of years, the children stay in the hood of their mother's amauti. Inuit Food How are the children raised Infant are constantly fondled and loved. Normally when the child is three years old, the next one is born, and after a period of emotional adjustment, the child accepts a changed role in the family. Children begin playing a role when they are around 12 by picking berries and hunting small animals. They are named after family members that have died and they were never punished. Greenland - 44,000-50,000Nunavut - 29,474Alaska - 24,000Quebec (Nunavik) - 10,464Newfoundland and Labrador - 8,120Northwest Territories - 3,100,Russia Inuit people diet is mostly meat because no plants grow where they liveThey mostly eat meat like sea mammals, fish and a few land mammals.They hunt all of their food and use the inedible parts for other things like bones for spears and fur for clothes.They hunt by making a hole in the ice and when animals come up to breathe, they kill it with a harpoon. What countries included? Inuit Language Inuits most of the time speak Inuktitut in Canada and Kalaallisut in Greenland. Inuit Houses Inuit Transport Inuit people travel using sleds pulled by a pack of dogs. People still do this but now snowmobiles are more popular but some people don't like it because they run out fuel. Inuit people have 2 types of houses. In the winter, inuit people live in igloos and in the summer they live in tent. But in now inuit people make there house in wood so they do not need to change houses for different seasons Igloos are built in a spiral shape with blocks of ice and make a dome-shaped structurePeople build it inside the igloo skilled hunters can build on in less than a hourwhen they finish, they carve a door at the side and come out Igloos Tents In the summer, inuit people leave there igloos and make tents in a new locationThey make it out of seal skin and use drift wood or whale rib bones to lift it up Land transport Sea transport On water people use kayaks which can only hold one person. Inuits use kayaks for hunting and they are made out of driftwood and sealskin. They steer using 2 ended-paddles. Inuits also use umiak that can hold 10 or more people and are used more to carry belongings than hunting. Inuit War or conflict Inuit war and conflict were very rare. They lived in peace and sharing was very in important because they have to depend on each other to survive in this environment. They shared food, equipment, clothing etc. with family friends in their community and even between camps. Inuits treated everything (humans, animals, land, plants) with equal respect. Inuit Beliefs Inuit believed that when you look at the northern light, you can see your family and friends in their next life but some Inuits thought that if you whistled at them, they would come down and chop off your head. Inuits also believed in animism where all living and non-living things had a spirit and when it die go to a spirit world. Shamans were powerful religious leaders who danced and used charms to communicate to the spirit world. Inuit Rules -The Inuit people did not eat sea mammal and land mammal meat at the same meal. -A knife used for killing whales had to be wrapped in sealskin, not caribou skin. -After killing a seal, melted snow had to be dripped into its mouth to quench the spirit's thirst. -The Inuit saved the bladder of the hunted animals, because the belief was that the spirit was found inside. -A ceremony called a 'Bladder Dance' was often held after a large hunt. Music and Dance The main instrument in the ceremonies and dances were the shallow-1sided drum. Most drums were made from caribou skin, or walrus stomach or bladder stretched over a wooden hoop. Drum dances usually occurred inside large (igloos) with up to 60 people. In song and dance they told stories of the spirits. Throat singing, performed by two women in competition used different sounds made in their throats and chests. One woman would set a short rhythmic pattern; then the other woman would set her own pattern. Inuit art Inuit people made carvings out of stone, bone or ivory from walruses and whales. The carvings were usually Arctic animals, humans or spirits. Also they make art prints using stencils. Festivals Thank You forWatching Changes in the 20th and 21st century Return of the Sun (Mid-January), Igloolik-Inuit symbolism and ritual. Traditional games and a fashion show of traditional dress. Ivakkak, Nunavik's Dogsled Race400 kilometres,Between Kangiqsujuaq and Akulivik, lasting up to ten days in MarchPuvirnituq Snow Festival Traditional Inuit games, Snow-sculpture competition. March 2012 Before 1940, Inuits hardly ever had any contact with the European and only few came to the Arctic to hunt whales. But after world war II, airplanes were more popular so people started becoming permanent residents in the Arctic. People starting building schools and health care centers and children were required to go to school. Also, more Inuits were moving in to real houses